


Holly

by Starrie_Wolf



Series: Fic Exchanges [Starrie Wolf] [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Arranged Marriage, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 14:29:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4141290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years ago, she had been just Allison Argent.</p><p>Now, she was Crown Princess Allison, and about to be wedded to someone she had never met before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FreshBrains](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreshBrains/gifts).



> I tried to hit as many of your favourite tropes as I could; hope you like it!
> 
> [Some pretty Allydia GIFs for you!](http://starriewolf.tumblr.com/post/122344973364/requested-by-allvdia-and-derkhales)

It all began eight years ago. The stronghold of their neighbours, the Kingdom of the Moon, had burnt down overnight. A tragic accident, the then-King Gerard had declaimed, and offered his condolences to the only three survivors out of a family of sixteen: Beta-Prince Peter, brother to Alpha-Queen Talia, Alpha-heiress Laura, and young Beta-Prince Derek. With Beta-Prince Peter in critical condition and comatose, there was no question about succession.

Allison had been just a child then, and far less interested in the political manoeuvring than a future Queen should have been, but her father had wanted her to have a normal childhood. So she took her etiquette lessons, and archery lessons, but she didn’t have to sit in on council sessions. Maybe she should have; she didn’t know. Maybe she could have overheard something, gotten some _warning_.

Because when Peter Hale woke up from his coma two years ago, the first thing he demanded was Crown Princess Kate’s head.

For Allison, Kate had always been the _fun_ aunt, the one who sneaked sweets into her pockets when her parents weren’t watching, the one who taught her how to ride without a saddle, the one who bought her her first collapsible crossbow. How could she have – have done something as _horrible_ as burn an entire family to death?

But the evidence was overwhelming. Eyewitness reports. Purchase receipts. Informants who came forward, emboldened by Alpha-Queen Laura’s proclamation that they would receive a blanket pardon in exchange for testifying against the Chief Spymaster for the Kingdom of the Sun. And perhaps most damning of all, an open letter from Lord Stilinski, a well-respected nobleman of the Kingdom of the Sun, revealing that the sudden death of his beloved wife was no accident as previously believed, but was in fact murder.

Had she ever known who her aunt really was?

The other nobles grew restless: it was no longer a case of Sun versus Moon. If they disagreed with Gerard, would Kate kill their families too? Faced with pressure both within and without, her grandfather finally agreed to hand his daughter over for prosecution. And that was when all the trouble started, for during her public trial – attended by nearly every noble family in both countries – Kate screamed to everyone that the entire scheme had been machinated by Gerard.

Pandemonium erupted. Most of it was a haze to Allison – but she did remember her father throwing himself at her, pushing her off the raised podium where the royals of both families had been seated, telling her to _run, sweetheart, run_. She did remember raised voices, screams, and even fancied hearing faint growls over the din.

By the time the riots ended, the Kingdom of the Sun had needed a new king.

~*~*~*~*~

Two years ago, she had been just Allison Argent.

Now, she was Crown Princess Allison, and about to be wedded to someone she had never met before.

Either everyone had somehow managed to keep the arrangement secret for sixteen years, or her father had been lying when he announced that she had been betrothed since birth. Even a year ago, Allison would have scoffed at the thought. After Gerard and Kate, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Lady Lydia of Martin Hold came from a long line of female Seers, renowned for their scholarship and foresight. She was also every bit as unapproachable as the servants’ gossip had described. Allison had yet to exchange more than the polite pleasantries with her, so tongue-tied was she in the other woman’s presence. Lydia Martin was everything she wanted to be – conversant, competent, cool and collected. Perhaps one day, they could even come to trust each other the way her parents did in private, but she wasn’t holding out much hope for it. Not after the last time she’d trusted someone.

~*~*~*~*~

Naturally, the Hales were invited to her impending nuptials. Peter Hale had declined flat-out, but Alpha-Queen Laura would be coming with her younger brother and several bodyguards. Despite the fact that this was supposed to be a gesture of goodwill, Allison could tell that her father was worried. The number of guards trailing after her had doubled, and for some reason there was a new row of purple-blue flowers on her windowsill. Those flowers weren’t local to the castle grounds; she should know, she’d ridden every inch of it herself.

That was how her betrothed found her one afternoon: curled up in an armchair in the library, trying to figure out the symbolism behind those flowers. A dusty old tome that probably hadn’t seen the light of day for decades finally yielded a name, monkshood, but other than a caution not to ingest it – not that she had any habit of eating flowers, what a strange warning – held no useful information, no indication of why her father found it necessary to cover her room in them.

Lydia raised a finely-plucked eyebrow at the stacks of dusty tomes around her, and Allison flushed. Then, surprisingly, her betrothed pulled up another chair. “What are you looking for?”

Allison waved a helpless hand at the books surrounding her “I was trying to figure out the meaning behind monkshood,” she explained. “My father kept giving me these, but I don’t know what he _meant_ by them.”

Lydia frowned, a dainty crease in her brow, and Allison was momentarily so distracted by the sight that she at first didn’t realise Lydia was speaking again. Cheeks flaming red, she asked, “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said,” Lydia repeated patiently, “which of these books have you already gone through?”

Allison nodded to the smallest pile, fighting down her embarrassed flush with Herculean effort as Lydia picked up the first book on the other pile. “Um, that one’s in archaic Latin –” she trailed off as Lydia cracked the tome open, ran her finger down the page of contents, and flipped to a page near the end.

“You’re looking under the wrong term,” Lydia explained casually. “Monkshood is better known by two other names: aconite and wolfsbane.” A life-like sketch of a snarling wolf leapt out at Allison from the open page. “And the chief usage of wolfsbane nowadays is to kill werewolves.”

Allison wanted to thank her. What came out of her mouth instead was a breathless, “You can read archaic Latin?”

The corners of Lydia’s eyes crinkled, just a fraction. “I got bored with classic Latin.” She shrugged elegantly. “Want me to translate?”

“Please,” managed Allison, and tried not to shudder when Lydia’s fingers brushed against hers when she took the book and began reading it aloud as though it had been written in English.

~*~*~*~*~

Despite all their fears, the wedding itself went off without a hitch. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Lydia was smiling at her. Even Alpha-Queen Laura’s well-wishes sounded sincere, when she had every reason to loathe Allison’s family. All was well with the world.

“May I have this dance, my Lady?” She was proud of how her voice didn’t shake, and was rewarded by a small, more genuine smile.

They’d come to an accord after that day in the Argent Library. After the noon repast each day, they would both retire to seek the tranquillity of the tomes. It was unexpectedly peaceful. Lydia was a font of knowledge when she deigned to speak, and Allison found that she welcomed the company. The books didn’t judge her for her relatives, and clearly neither did her betrothed.

“Are you planning to follow in Gerard’s or Kate’s footsteps?” When questioned on the matter, Lydia had asked bluntly.

“No!” Allison’s denial was vehement.

“Then why would I judge you for the family you were born to?”

So there was that.

As Lydia neatly twirled Allison across the ballroom floor, she couldn’t help but dare to let herself hope things would get better.

~*~*~*~*~

Allison pulled the door to her suite open, and immediately felt her cheeks heat up. Her bedroom had been redecorated into a boudoir since that morning, evidently for the upcoming marriage night. Curtains of heavy velvet draped artfully around her bed, which now sported silk sheets that shimmered in the candlelight. Scented candles – carefully placed away from the wolfsbane flower pots – dotted the room, casting a warm glow on the entire room. To complete the picture of debauchery, saucers in the shape of little boats were laid out in a silver tray on the table, each containing a different kind of oil.

“It doesn’t normally look like this,” she stuttered.

Lydia’s smile as she strode into the room was wicked. “I like it.”

~*~*~*~*~

One of Allison’s favourite hobbies was archery, especially in the vast expanses of the Royal Hunting Grounds. Today, like many other days before this, she was tasked with bringing back the choicest game for the night’s banquet. Today, unlike the other days before this, she was bringing her newly-wedded Princess-consort on a hunt.

They’d been riding for a while, until the towers of the castle were no longer visible above the forest canopy. Allison knew these woods like the back of her hand, though, and they were in no danger of getting lost. There was a small lake up ahead where the deer liked to congregate around midday, and that was where they were headed.

Then –

“What’s that?”

For a moment, Allison didn’t know either, so incongruous was the sound in these woods. “Howling?” she wondered out loud, turning her head this way and that in vain to try and spot the source.

“There!”

Yes, there it was, a flash of black fur amongst the trees.

“But there aren’t any wolves in the Hunting Grounds!”

“Those aren’t wolves.” Lydia’s face was grim as the first shape came into view. “Those are _werewolves_.”

There were two of them, a bigger black wolf and a smaller lighter-coloured one, easily keeping up with their pace. Allison spurred the horse on faster, but they simply lengthened their stride, loping casually behind them. Any hope of negotiating died a swift death when the smaller – on a person, she might be inclined to call the colour _blond_ – wolf bared its teeth, showing off its fangs.

“Make for the castle!” Lydia had both arms wrapped around her waist now, and had it been any other situation Allison would have taken the time to enjoy the feel of Lydia Martin clinging onto her.

“We can’t!” she shouted back. “They’re blocking the way!”

“Well, we can’t out-distance them!” hollered back Lydia, practically in her ear. “Got any ideas?”

Just one, actually.

Allison shoved the reins into Lydia’s hands. If this was an assassination attempt, well, they were about to find out that this human had fangs too.

The next time the smaller wolf made a charge at them, Allison whipped up her bow and an arrow from her saddlebags, drew back the string, and fired.

The smaller wolf howled in pain, ripping the arrow out from its paw with its teeth. The bigger black wolf paused in its stride, circling around to check its partner’s injury, and then yelped when Allison put a second arrow through its flank.

Holding onto the flanks of her steed with just her knees, Allison wheeled the horse around, until the two wolves could see the two arrows notched to her bow, one pointed at each of them. Her trusty steed neighed and stamped nervously, but remained obediently still under her whispered murmurs.

“I’ve shot leaping deer in mid-air from a distance of a hundred yards!” she shouted, trusting werewolf hearing to catch her words across even the distance that separated them. “Leave now, or the next arrow’s going to be in your throat!”

And, miracle of miracles, they left – after a few more growls and snarls that even Allison could tell were more for show than anything else.

~*~*~*~*~

She was surprised to be approached by Alpha-Queen Laura after dinner, however.

“The Kingdom of the Moon would like to extend its sincere gratitude for forgiving the trespasses of two of our citizens.” Behind her, Allison could just barely see two figures half-hidden in the shadows, a tall black man and a smaller blonde woman. The two werewolves from earlier, no doubt.

“I am not my aunt, and my father is not his father,” Allison stated firmly. “We have a different Code: we will not hurt the innocent, and we will protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

“A fine Code to live by.” Alpha-Queen Laura gave a regal nod, sweeping out of the room.

~*~*~*~*~

Three months later, Allison was proud to bear witness as King Chris and Alpha-Queen Laura signed the peace treaty that allied the Kingdoms of the Sun and Moon for the first time in recorded history. As she added her signature to the scroll, Lydia a comforting presence by her side, she couldn’t help but think, _maybe there was hope for them after all_.

**Author's Note:**

> Holly, according to various sources, symbolises hope and protection.
> 
> Background stuff I couldn't fit into the fic because Allison doesn't know these things:  
> \- Chris made a barter with Lydia for the arranged marriage, not her mother.  
> \- Lydia comes from a family of Seers, but her specific ability is being able to See death, like her grandmother Lorraine. Her powers will grow exponentially if she can find an anchor, and this is what _Lydia_ gets out of the arrangement. That, and unlimited access to an entire kingdom's worth of books. What Chris gets out of it is of course extra protection for his beloved daughter.  
>  \- Chris' second goal in making the arrangement with Lydia is due to the fact that the Kingdom of the Sun was fracturing due to the thing with Kate and Gerard, and he wants to prevent civil war. House Martin is one of House Stilinski's greatest allies, so an arranged marriage with them would strengthen intra-kingdom ties. He didn't want to presume upon Sheriff Stilinski, given that if their roles were reversed, he couldn't imagine betrothing Allison to the family that killed Victoria, but the Martins are famed for logic over emotion.
> 
> [I have a Tumblr if you're interested!](starriewolf.tumblr.com)


End file.
